Mobile commerce, using mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets or the like, is rapidly expanding in popularity. Recently, near field communication (NFC) has been deployed in many types of mobile devices; and NFC has been adopted for a variety of applications, including payment applications. The Isis Mobile Wallet™, for example, was recently launched in the US using NFC for mobile payment. Mobile service providers and their mobile device vendors are deploying a secure element (SE) implemented in the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) or subscriber identity module (SIM) of new mobile devices to support this NFC based transaction service. For mobile payments using NFC, a secure element is required. In the payment mode, NFC card emulation is required along with the secure element.
When a user brings their mobile device within NFC communication range of an NFC enabled payment terminal at a point of sale (POS) (e.g., a bricks-and-mortar store), the terminal sends out a command via a magnetic field to initiate communication with a Contactless Front End (CLF) provided via an NFC controller in the mobile device. The CLF interprets the command and routes the request appropriately. If the request is for mobile payment, the CLF routes the data to the secure element for authentication. Once the authentication requirement is met, secure information from the SE will be released through a secure channel from the SE through the NFC controller back to the POS terminal. The data flows from the POS to the backend server(s), e.g. to process the payment. Currently, the NFC controller will only route payment transactions to the SE. All other transactions are routed to the host processor of the mobile device.
Mobile devices have screens, and the screens can be placed in an off position. Alternatively, the phone can be locked. If the screen is in the off position, or if the phone is locked, then (historically and for security purposes) payment using the mobile device is not allowed. In such a situation, the NFC controller will not route a payment transaction to the SE. To thus pay using ISIS mobile wallet (for example), and in order for the NFC controller to route the payment transaction to the SE, the screen of the mobile device needs to be on and the mobile device needs to be unlocked.